Deadline. Help. Word count and acknowledgements.

[kimmer]

Hi All,

I haven't been here for a few weeks. My manuscruipt is due in a few days and I'm struggling with a few things. One is serious business the other is social etiquette. Help.

1) Any advice on how publishers would react if you were under the word count by say, 10-15%? My contract says "approximately 65,000 words." I feel I've covered the subject and additional chapters might seem like fluff to the readers. I keep cranking away but it's just not the same caliber of writing I usually produce. I haven't contacted the publisher because I'm not sure if this is common or a serious concern.

2) Any advice on acknowledgements? I could probably thank a hundred people who helped me along the way but don't want to seem tacky by listing everyone alphabetically. My family will appear in the dedication so I'm not concerned about that. Any hints or guidelines for a new author?

These issues are equally important to me for different reasons.

Thanks much,

kimmer

[Lauri B]

Hi Kimmer,
It can be a real problem if the manuscript is short, primarily because publishers base their cover price on a combination of variables, including page count. Fifteen percent is really pretty short of the contracted word count; your publisher may not care, but I know i'd care if it were a book we were publishing. I would definitely talk to your editor about this.

[kimmer]

Thanks for that advice. I'm still pulling the last pieces together and may be closer to 4 - 5,000 words short. I'll give her a call.

[KCH]

Kimmer,

From a reader's perspective, I appreciate your desire not to pad just to meet word count. But because of the issues Nomad mentions, you might want to explore ways in which you can boost the word count in a substantive way so that when discussing this with your editor you come off prepared and cooperative, rather than tapped-out. Would your work lend itself to a section on resources or action plans or workbook-type templates for the reader to use? Or perhaps you could add case studies where appropriate (if not already included).

For the publisher's purposes, additional pages without the corresponding words can work too, i.e. a lead-in page for each chapter with an appropriate and thought-provoking quote.

As far as acknowledgements, I'd definitely acknowledge people who have contributed substantial time and expertise. And, in my opinion, it's never tacky to say thank you. I wouldn't worry about the acknowledgments page getting too long; few read it except those looking for their own names anyway, so you're not going to annoy the general public. And the publisher typically doesn't care about lengthy acknowledgements unless it affects word count --which isn't a problem here.

Good luck, and congratulations!

[kimmer]

The end of the story...I ended up submitting 61,000 words toward my 65,000 nonfiction title. I had pictures, charts and a few dozen sidebars, which met the needs of my publisher. When I called them at about 55,000 words they weren't concerned because they knew as a "how-to" book there were plenty of opportunities to expand.

Thanks to all,
KS
(hair falling out, flabby legs, stiff wrists, but I think I can talk to my family now...ahhh the life of a writer)